I just stayed up late to listen to “Sculpted by Fire” on public radio here in San Francisco. It’s an hour-long radio feature by Barbara Berstein at the Media Project in Portland. Definitely give it a listen online if you missed it on your local station (link).

It’s the most concise, rational discussion I’ve heard (or seen) on the lessons of the massive Biscuit forest fires in Oregon in2003. Bernstein talks to everyone from loggers to environmentalists, the forest service, scientists and native elders.

The product is a strong argument against salvage logging and a stinging indictment of the Bush Administration’s assault on protections for Western wilderness areas in the name of forest health.

In related recent news, loggers continue to throw money at Washington. AP reports that the American Forest and Paper Association, the logging industry trade association, spent $1.4 million in the first 6 months of this year lobbying the federal government. Last year, loggers spent $12.3 million on federal lobbying industry-wide.

That’s a lot of lunches.